By: Chris Michael, Posted: Jul 13 09

Regions: United States

Issues: Older persons

Tags: elder, justice, premier, screening, senior

I recently had the chance to spend some quality time with some of the crew behind South by Southwest Special Jury Award-winning "The Way We Get By" while I was at the Bay Area Video Coalition's exceptional Producer's Institute*. Once Director, Editor and Co-Director of Photography, Aron Gaudet, and Gita Pullapilly, Producer and Interviewer, screened their preview and talked about the film, my colleague Tina and I saw a connection with our campaign to help break the silence on elder abuse in the U.S. with our Elder Justice Campaign.

The movie focuses on the stories and experiences of a group of senior citizens who greet U.S. soldiers departing and returning from Iraq, and from their website, the "film quickly turns into a moving, unsettling and compassionate story about aging, loneliness, war and mortality."

I'm excited to see the movie at its NYC Premiere this Friday, where Aron, Gita and cast from the film will be in attendance for questions and answers. If you're in the NYC area, I hope you can join me and my colleagues working on the Elder Justice Campaign for the screening on Friday 17th July at 7:30 - we'll be filming interviews with folks after the film to hear how they think we can better protect and support our elders.

Look for a report-back post from the screenings and some great interviews with the filmmakers and folks speaking about elder rights and the elder justice campaign!

Links to learn more, attend a screening or bring the film to your community:

Screenings

Bring "The Way We Get By" to your community:

Get a FREE ticket via these (very smart) offers

* for more on this, please read my colleague Tina's post on the Institute and how WITNESS is collaborating with BAVC.